Elizabeth Redden

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Pennsylvania State University is the second institution within a week to confirm that it will not be continuing its agreement to host a Confucius Institute, a center for Chinese language and cultural training funded by the Chinese government. In confirming that the university will be ending its Confucius Institute agreement at the end of this year (Dec. 31), the dean of Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts cited goals that are inconsistent with those of Hanban, the Chinese government agency that administers the institutes.

PLEASE NOTE DATE OF PUBLICATION BELOW -- THIS IS EMBARGOED FOR FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 The Student and Exchange Visitor Program is expected to post new draft guidance regarding the certification of pathway programs for international students today.

Thousands of university students in Hong Kong boycotted classes on Monday to demonstrate against Chinese government restrictions on voting rights, The New York Times reported. Organizers said that more than 13,000 students attended a Monday rally to protest a proposed change to election rules in which a nominating committee loyal to the leadership in Beijing would be able to screen candidates for the Hong Kong city government’s top post.

First-time enrollment at U.S. graduate schools increased by 1 percent between fall 2012 and 2013, driven by 11.5 percent growth in new international students and despite a 0.9 percent decrease in U.S. citizens and permanent residents, according to a new report from the Council of Graduate Schools. About one in five new students at U.S. graduate schools is on a temporary visa.

A coalition of Israel advocacy organizations concerned by what they describe as the prevalence of anti-Israel programming at federally-funded Middle East studies centers are lobbying for changes in the Title VI program that would 1) “[r]equire recipients of Title VI funds to establish grievance procedures to address complaints that programs are not reflecting diverse perspectives and a wide range of views” and 2) “[r]equire the U.S. Department of Education to establish a formal complaint-resolution process similar to that in use to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”